Social Innovation, Sustainability and Regenerative Social Work unit (HGW312)

Introduction

Social workers acknowledge that we live in extra-ordinary times of uncertainty, disruption to the ‘business as usual’ and growing social, cultural, political, economic and environmental disparities. This unit equips you with intersectional analysis skills, theoretical knowledge and practice skills to understand, confront and respond to the multiple impacts of social injustice and human rights neglect and abuses. The unit begins by examining the contested nature of contemporary life and how history has shaped how social work has responded to social, cultural, environmental, economic and political problems. Through the prism of diverse knowledge relevant to the Australian context including First Nations perspectives and international frameworks such as the United Nations this unit examines the definitions and practices of social sustainability, social innovation and regenerative social work practice. This unit also uses intersectional and decolonising understandings of social work to develop students capacity to examine global and local contexts and identify how a social work response is ethically formulated and consistently aligned to sustainable and regenerative social goals. You can expect to engage with international and local case studies to decolonise your understandings of social sustainability, social innovation and regenerative practice and their relevance to contemporary social work. You can also expect to explore how to meaningfully engage with individuals, communities, and systems to trigger change focused on social sustainability and regeneration. Learning processes in this unit include self and collaborative critical reflection, mutual enquiry, group work, role plays, Yarning and dialogical discussions.

Summary

Unit name	Social Innovation, Sustainability and Regenerative Social Work
Unit code	HGW312
Credit points	25
College/School	Health Social Work Program
Discipline	Social Work
Coordinator	Professor Milena Heinsch
Available as an elective?	No
Delivered By	University of Tasmania
Level	Advanced

Availability

Specific information on 2027 unit availability will be available in August

Learning Outcomes

• Use intersectional analysis to reveal how discrimination, oppression, exploitation and inequality are maintained in social policies, systems and institutions.
• Identify how locally relevant social injustice and human rights issues are linked to global social sustainability goals.
• Identify contemporary elements of grounded, committed and principled ethical social work activism that are proven to promote social sustainability.
• Distinguish social innovation and sustainability principles, protocols, processes and outcomes that support the decolonisation agenda through using actual and hypothetical case studies.
• Analyse the potential for contemporary social policy interventions to contribute to social sustainability goals that are linked to a decolonising agenda.

Fee Information

2027 fee information will be available in August.

Requisites

Prerequisites

200 credit points from the Bachelor of Social Work with Honours

Teaching

Teaching Pattern	Each week, you will complete an hour of online learning activities (including lectures, videos, podcasts and other activities).   You will also have approximately two hours of prescribed reading to complete each week. In addition, you will attend 6 x 6- hour face-to-face intensives.  In total, you will need to allow 16-20 hours per week to complete all of the learning and assessments for this unit, including independent study.  There is an 80% attendance requirement to meet accreditation standards
Assessment	Reflection on learning 1000 words (20%)|Written assignment 1800 words (30%)|Recorded group poster presentation and self-evaluation (50%)
Timetable	View the lecture timetable | View the full unit timetable

Textbooks

Required	All readings will be available via the units Reading List
Recommended	All readings will be available via the units Reading List

The University reserves the right to amend or remove courses and unit availabilities, as appropriate.